Eating My Way Through... April

Keeping a blog is really like keeping an extravagant diary and I thought it would fun to summarise my foodie highlights by creating a monthly feature, starting, of course, with April.

Kicking things off with Mamas the Word gammon ham roll with chili jam and rocket which I found at what must have been my discovery of the month - foodie paradise, Maltby Street Market.

Another revelation was this pork, apple sauce, and stilton pizza bianco. I've never really had white pizza before, as I'm more used to the tomato variety, but this pizza more than convinced me. I bought it from the Eat17 concession in a Spar on Orford Road, Walthamstow Village. I have never seen such an amazing Spar in all my life; it was more like stepping into a scaled down version of the basement of Selfridges

Whilst I'm on Walthamstow, I must mention this gem I bought from Aura Rosa cakes which can also be found in Walthamstow village. Their signature bake, the 'Aura Rosa' is a raspberry and passionfruit cake, soaked in rum, and frosted liberally with Italian meringue.

Other delicious eats included the incredible banana burger I ate at the Vegetarian Warehouse Cafe in Birmingham. I still need to find my own recipe for the perfect vegetarian patty.

I definitely can't write up my April highlights without including M whisking me away to Winchester for a birthday treat. We dined at the Chesil Rectory, the UK's third most romantic restaurant. My starter of pigeon with caramelised walnuts and endive was to die for.

Continuing the romantic theme was M and mine's antipasti platter eaten in the stunning surroundings of our accommodation in Shaftesbury over the Easter weekend. Yes, the food was good, but what really made it memorable was the incredible setting and beautiful warm, spring evening.

And, finally, I had to include my winning entry into the Celery and Cupcakes healthy baking competition. My Summerberry Scrunch scooped first prize!